How to Create a Narrative and get that Job!

Published 2019-07-03

In my coaching clients often come to me with the most
important question of our age: “Ennis, I’m not working. I’m skilled, I have a
degree. I have worked for twenty-years but I since I was unemployed I just have
not been able to find a job!”

This question is not limited to my coaching clients. Go to
meet-ups across the country, attend networking events, go to an upscale bar
that hosts adults and conversation and you will find this tale a universal tale
of challenge for modern America. I have asked and many people share this
challenge. Briefly, let me describe the challenge.

You are a successful employee. Your parents helped you go to
college, you landed your first job immediately out of school. A hard-worker you
quickly rose through the ranks in corporate America. Initially as a doer, a
technical leader, you soon found yourself with ever increasing responsibility.
Some of you chose Project Management and oversaw large projects with millions
of dollars on the line. Some of you managed teams from 5 to 100 people. You
were doing great. Maybe, even, your kids just left for college and you have
finally purchased a new home to match your status in life with a new car, that
shiny new BMW [ed: Don’t feel conscientious, I loved my BMW but regret buying
it every day. I am glad I am no longer under that payment]. Something changed
at work, however. You didn’t notice at first. You have been comfortable and
secure. But you have not been promoted in nearly 10 years now. Certainly, you
have been getting cost-of-living increases and the occasional bonus but you
have not been promoted. Furthermore, you felt an increasing distance between
yourself and leadership. It started small, of course, the CEO no longer said hi
in the hallway. Your director didn’t have time for you in meetings. The CFO
keeps rejecting your budget. And then, it happens, you have been cast out. You
tell yourself, they are firing you at their own peril. You are older and make
more money for your valuable experience and they will see. They will hire a
younger person, someone, perhaps, that was your age when you first took the role,
and that younger person will fail. They will come crawling back and you will
show them.

But they don’t return. Your once friends now even decline
the occasional lunch as your lunches were mostly about the “good ole days” and the
challenge of finding work. Your self-confidence is waning as the black-box-ats
eats your soul every day with a 90% no response rate. The severance package
stops. Your savings are not that high and now you are cutting expenses. With
the potential loss of the house you start considering roles that are beneath
you.

You know, a role you can do in your sleep for less money.
The type of role where you can go in and prove your worth to a new
organization. The type of role where you can regain your lost glory and demonstrate
to a new company how great you are. The type of role where you can be promoted
in 6 months to a place that matches your true value.

You are getting optimistic. Your are actually getting
screening calls for these applications. Recruiters now return your calls that
you are “under market” yet the final interview keeps ending in a we will call
you instead of a can you start tomorrow. You don’t know what it is and you
desperately need the job. What is wrong with these companies. Why can’t they
see you for who you are! Why won’t they hire you so you can show them how to do
things better?

The text above may hit hard. The true nature of why we can’t
find work is ultimately ourselves. With that said there is a technique I have
been working with a few clients that helps really well in this all too often
and unfortunate situation. Creating a narrative to get the job!

What happens when we go in from a position of false modesty
is we revel too many tells about our real nature. What we really want. And in
all of the I talk we forget … just want the hiring manager wants. Let’s
consider the hiring manager for a moment. This poor soul is understaffed. What
does this mean in the knowledge worker world? This means that in addition to
his or her normal duties the hiring manager is now working longer into the evening
and some weekends to perform the duties of the absent role. This missing person
is taking away from the time of the manager to spend with his or her family. If
you have not been a hiring manager and just a project manager you may not
believe this. PM’s rarely have to work late because there isn’t a report (not
saying PM’s don’t work late just different reasons!). As a line manager your
job is to get the job done and when the people don’t exist to delegate you can’t
just say no to the business. Instead you have to roll-up the sleeves and get
the work done. In fact, if you are a good manager often you take on the work
that could be shared across the team so your team does not have to share in the
pain. For these people, the need in hiring reflects the ability to go home and
spend time with family. The ability to take a vacation. The ability to watch a
kindergartener graduate. The ability to have some personal time at the gym. The
ability to have a date night with the spouse. In short, this open and missing
position represents the ability to be an entire person. And filling a role is
hard! You think finding a job is hard try interviewing people to fill a
high-tech knowledge worker role that requires specialized skills and lateral
thinking AND an H.R. culture fit! It could take months.

For the hiring manager looking into an applicant for a
position that is going to be gone in six months offers zero value to the hiring
manager! Certainly, maybe, to the company but to the hiring manager? Even the
most astute of us require some onboarding, maybe four-weeks to be fully up and
running. That is one month. One month of the six you intend to use to find your
better position in the company. This means the hiring manager in spending
months finding you and a month training you will now only get four to five
months of the pleasure of your company as a direct. Worse, what if another role
opens up! The hiring manager now potentially faces two open roles!

With this in mind, with our mindset in mind, what is it we
can do? Create a narrative to get the job! What is a narrative? A narrative is
more than just a truth. A narrative is a form of cognitive bias that helps us
understand our value in a role and sell that value in a completely, 100% true
form to a hiring manager to get that job! Instead of using wordification which
I admit I am not very good I will give an example for myself based on my
historical background and experience.

As many of you know my profession is a professional coach
and my coaching practice is primarily software engineering leadership. I coach Engineering
Managers, Directors of Engineering, VP of Engineering, CTO’s and aspiring
technical leads looking to step into engineering leadership. How did I get to
that level of coaching? Well I was in the trenches as a Software Developer for
over a decade. I wrote code well into the night often until two or three AM and
I spent my weekends on hobby projects writing code that was just plan fun. My
background, then is that of a developer as a trade. With that background let’s
imagine I lose my ability to work today as a professional coach and I am now
looking to go back into the work-force. Clearly, I would love to be a VP of Engineering
again. VPoE is an exciting role full of trials and tribulations. The fun of
writing code with the pressure of the lives of 100’s of employees. It is an
adventure of a lifetime that is amazing and worthwhile. Of course, it is a hard
role to get! A very hard role! And even when you think you have the interview
nailed it may come down to an esoteric missing need more than anything else. As
such I need to look inward. What kind of technical role can I do today, eyes
closed and add day-one value? I could be a quality engineering. A Software
Developer in Test. These souls spend their days digging into bug tickets. Mind
numbingly closing hundreds of tickets helping keep the systems humming so the “real”
engineers can do the fun work. How in the world can I get a job like that? How
could I convince a hiring manager that with a background in professional
coaching, a strong technical background in leadership at the highest engineering
levels, that I could not only be happy and productive in a junior role but stay
for a long-time? I would create a narrative. Not only will the narrative ring
true and get me the job but the narrative will help me enjoy the job more and
likely help me to stay in role for long enough for every party to be happy.

What is the narrative? What would I use? Let’s see… I kind
of love bug fixing. Every day is a new day. Each and every time I open a bug
ticket it is a new project in a new language. Often I get to learn systems and
techniques that I have never seen before. Even more, as a bug fixer, my job is
to make the minimum necessary change to a code-base to maximize value.
Therefore, I get to put myself in the shoes of others and learn how they think making
myself a better coder. In fact, I enjoy the work so much that when I do bug
related work I like to set myself a deadline sometimes. Let’s say five in the
afternoon and a long list, a nearly impossible list of work, place on the
headphones, tune into the zone and see if it is possible for me to ride the
productive wave into the zone and try and make it by the deadline. These
productivity blitzes are really, really fun. I don’t do it every day or even
every week but when the mood strikes it is very fun and very rewarding and
looking back on the hyper productivity it is just a place I can look on and
small. Bug fixing for many may be drudge work but for me bug fixing offers a
sort of escapism I can’t get anywhere else. I don’t have to deal with the
politics. I don’t have to spend my days in endless meetings. I am not
responsible for the lives of 100’s of employees. In fact, when my shift is over
as a bug fixer I can tune out, go home, and play some Mario Maker into the night
or spend my extra capacity writing hobby code again. You know, and you may not
believe this, as a VP of Engineering, coming home after a grueling day that is
mentally exhausting hobby code is not something that even enters my mind. For
me the position of Software Engineer in Test would offer a much needed respite
from the stresses of more senior roles and I could use a three or four year
break.

Nice narrative? Is it true? Now? Maybe not. If I were unemployed?
Easily. I could stand behind and fundamentally believe every statement and
every statement represents a true joy I would have in the role. I do not need
to “fix my manager” I do not need to “fix the company” and I do not need a “more
senior role”. If you are looking for a job and are currently unemployed falling
out from a more senior position perhaps an exercise in finding your narrative
for a less senior role will benefit you. The best part about the narrative is
they do not have to be just for one role. As a senior professional you have the
ability to ACE all sorts of roles. Remember, you are awesome that is how you
got to where you were. USE THAT! Use your awesome to create your narrative!
Find a position and a job description that you can knock out of the ball park
and before you apply see if you can create a narrative where you can own the role.
Create the narrative even before you write the cover letter. If the narrative
you create is awesome and inspires you APPLY! Using a narrative when looking
for your next role while being unemployed is a fantastic way to sell YOUR
amazing value to hiring managers in such a way that maximizes value for the hiring
manager. Remember, ultimately, it isn’t about what you can do for the company
at the end of the day. As a leader it is about what you can do for the people
you serve and in the case of taking a lower level job that means a true leader
has to look out for the hiring manager he or she will be working for and be
able to commit to the time necessary to relieve the stress of the role. And,
let’s be honest, with your skills, background, and experience you will be able
to eliminate your new role in six months anyway freeing up your mental energy
for that promotion!

Go forth and be awesome.

Ennis Lynch

Ennis Lynch is a Professional Coach Based in South Florida. His primary area of coaching focuses on coaching Software Engineering Leadership. On occasion he does Agile Transformation work as well but prefers coaching at the Team and Individual level vs. the organizational level.

If you have ever wondered: is professional coaching right for me and you are a Software Engineering Manager, Director of Engineering, Director of Software Engineering, VP of Engineering, or CTO reach out for a free initial coaching session. See if coaching is right for you. Initial coaching sessions are the real deal, no hard-sells, no "here is what you would get if you paid". Individuals that receive a free coaching session will get a normal private professional coaching session of 90 minutes (30 minute onboarding + 60 minute coaching) and it will be up to you to follow-up if you want to continue with help on your journey.

Ennis is always gathering research through a team building exercise called the Ball Point Game. If you are interested in a team-level exercise and want to participate in a research project to further the field reach out. The exercise is free in South Florida (and really fun)